印度-雅利安诸语言

浏览

印欧语系印度-伊朗语支的主要次语族。使用人口超过8亿,主要分布於印度、尼泊尔巴基斯坦、孟加拉和斯里兰卡。古印度-雅利安时期以梵语为代表。中印度-雅利安时期(西元前600年~西元1000年)主要为普拉克里特(Prakrit)诸方言,包括巴利语。现代印度-雅利安语言大致是分布於完整地理空间的单一方言统一体,因此语言与方言之间的分界是有点人为的。使情况益形复杂的因素是:具有古老文学传统的语言之间的竞争性区别;操母语者的地方语言认同(例如在人口调查中);现代标准印地语乌尔都语语等超地区的语言;语言学家(特别是格利尔孙〔G. A. Grierson〕)所引进的标示。在涵盖印度北部并往南延伸到中央邦的印度-雅利安语区(「印地语」带)核心,最普遍的行政与教育语言是现代标准印地语。印度北部平原重要的地方语言是哈里亚纳语、高拉维语(Kauravi)、布拉吉语(Braj)、阿沃提语(Awadhi)、切蒂斯格尔语(Chhattisgarhi)、波杰布尔语(Bhojpuri)、摩揭陀(Magadhi)、弥湿罗语(Maithili)。拉贾斯坦的地方语言包括马尔瓦里语(Marwari)、通德哈里语(Dhundhari)、哈拉提语(Harauti)、马尔维语(Malvi)。在喜马偕尔邦的喜马拉雅山脚是格利尔孙所称的帕哈里诸语言。在印地语带周围,最重要的语言依顺时针方向为尼泊尔语(东帕哈里语),阿萨姆语孟加拉语,奥里雅语(Oriya),马拉塔语(Marathi),古吉拉特语信德语,巴基斯坦旁遮普省南部、西北部、北部语言(格利尔孙称为西旁遮普语或拉亨达语),旁遮普语,多格里语(Dogri)。在查谟和喀什米尔以及巴基斯坦遥远的北部是达尔德诸语言,其中最重要者为喀什米尔语、科希斯坦语(Kohistani)、辛纳语(Shina)、科瓦尔语(Khowar)。阿富汗西北部的努里斯坦诸语言(旧称卡菲尔语〔Kafiri〕)有时被视为印度-伊朗诸语言的分支。僧伽罗语(用於斯里兰卡)、迪韦希语(Divehi,用於马尔地夫群岛)、吉普赛语也属於印度-雅利安诸语言。

Indo-Aryan languages

Major subgroup of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Indo-Aryan languages are spoken by over 800 million people, principally in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The Old Indo-Aryan period is represented by Sanskrit. Middle Indo-Aryan (c. 600 BC-AD 1000) consists principally of the Prakrit dialects, including Pali. Modern Indo-Aryan speech is largely a single dialect continuum spread over an undivided geographical space, so demarcations between languages and dialects are somewhat artificial. Complicating the situation are competing distinctions between languages with an old literary tradition, local language identification by native speakers (as in censuses), supraregional languages such as Modern Standard Hindi and Urdu, and labels introduced by linguists, particularly George Abraham Grierson. In the center of the Indo-Aryan speech area (the “Hindi zone”), covering northern India and extending south as far as Madhya Pradesh, the most common language of administration and education is Modern Standard Hindi. Important regional languages in the northern Indian plain are Haryanvi, Kauravi, Braj, Awadhi, Chhattisgarhi, Bhojpuri, Magahi, and Maithili. Regional languages in Rajasthan include Marwari, Dhundhari, Harauti, and Malvi. In the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh are Grierson's Pahari languages. Surrounding the Hindi zone, the most significant languages are, moving clockwise, Nepali (East Pahari), Assamese, Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Gujarati, Sindhi, the speech of southern, northwestern, and northern Punjab province in Pakistan (called West Punjabi or Lahnda by Grierson), Punjabi, and Dogri. In Jammu and Kashmir and the far north of Pakistan are the Dardic languages; the most important are Kashmiri, Kohistani, Shina and Khowar. The Nuristani (formerly Kafiri) languages of northwestern Afghanistan are sometimes considered a separate branch of Indo-Iranian. Sinhalese (spoken on Sri Lanka), Divehi (spoken in the Maldive Islands), and Romany are also Indo-Aryan languages.